All posts by Tara de Ryk

Craik, featured

New sergeant joins Craik RCMP

Sgt. Greg Doell is the new commanding officer at the RCMP detachment in Craik.
Sgt. Greg Doell is the new commanding officer at the RCMP detachment in Craik.

By Joel van der Veen

CRAIK — With one sergeant and four constables, Craik’s RCMP detachment is back to full strength.

The latest arrival is Sgt. Greg Doell, the detachment’s new commanding officer, whose posting here began earlier this month.

The detachment covers a large area, including Davidson, Craik and surrounding rural districts. Their territory reaches north to Bladworth, east to Holdfast and Last Mountain Lake, and down south to Chamberlain.

“To be able to adequately staff a shift is a bit of a challenge in a smaller detachment,” Doell told the Leader last week.

Having all positions staffed makes a difference, he continued, adding that educating and interacting with the public also play a crucial role in the work police are doing.

Doell, 47, is a 15-year veteran of the RCMP. He arrived in Craik on Feb. 1 and began his new posting shortly afterward.

He said he has reviewed recent reports and believes the detachment has done well in handling local cases, adding that he will continue to watch for changing trends and review them on a case-by-case basis.

A native of Warman who has worked in several detachments, Doell said he prefers community policing to working in cities.

“I grew up in small-town Saskatchewan and enjoy interacting with the community,” he said. “For me, it’s a natural fit.”

For the full story, please see the Feb. 13 edition of The Davidson Leader or call 306-567-2047 to subscribe today.

Davidson, featured, Kenaston, Loreburn

Trustee urges public to speak up on school divisions review

web-school

By Joel van der Veen

KENASTON — John Collins has a message for anyone interested in the future of Saskatchewan’s public education system: now’s the time to speak your mind.

The trustee, who represents Davidson and area on the board of education for Sun West School Division, said people with an opinion on the subject should voice it.

“It’s better if it comes straight from the voters’ mouths to their local MLA,” Collins said Thursday. “If we don’t say anything, we can’t really complain at the end of it.”

Changes may be on the horizon for the structure of school divisions in the province.

Dan Perrins, a former deputy minister, presented a report on school governance to education minister Don Morgan in December.

In addition to history and context, the report offered three primary options for governance structures for the minister’s consideration.

Morgan then appointed a six-person panel to consult with stakeholders throughout the month of January, both in face-to-face meetings and through online submissions from the public.

The panel is expected to present its findings to the minister this month, with a public announcement to follow.

The province currently has 28 school divisions, each governed by elected boards of education, and a total K-12 student population of roughly 176,000.

Options identified by Perrins include a provincial model with a single public school board and an advisory board operating alongside it.

A regional model would set up four public boards of education, while a third model would restructure the current divisions into between eight and 14 new divisions.

Morgan has also indicated that the province could choose to stay with the status quo.

Collins said he has heard from a few people about the review, though not as many as he expected.

“I think it’s a pretty important piece that everybody needs to be aware of,” he said. “Everybody that has a vested interest should be talking to their MLA, or letting the government know what they think.”

Collins represents Subdivision 6 in Sun West School Division, which includes the schools in Davidson, Kenaston and Loreburn.

The subdivision also includes colony schools at Loreburn and Clear Springs and the Distance Learning Centre (DLC) in Kenaston.

For the full story, please see the Feb. 13 edition of The Davidson Leader or call 306-567-2047 to subscribe today.

Davidson, featured

Small growth for Davidson, according to census data

web-town-council

By Joel van der Veen

DAVIDSON — The town’s population is on the rise again, but not as much as some might have expected.

According to census data released last week, Davidson has a total of 1,048 residents, up from 1,025 in 2011, an increase of 2.2 per cent.

Administrator Gary Edom said he expected the town’s numbers to be somewhat higher, but said it was still positive news.

“At least we’re headed in the right direction,” he said Friday morning.

On Wednesday, Statistics Canada released the first round of data from the Canada 2016 Census, including population and dwelling counts.

The results provide a glimpse of how cities, towns and other municipalities have grown or shrank since the last census was taken five years ago.

As a whole, the province of Saskatchewan has grown by 6.3 per cent since 2011, the second-highest growth rate among Canada’s provinces.

The province’s population stood at 1,098,352 as of May 2016, and all 16 cities in Saskatchewan saw their populations increase.

Davidson’s population has hovered around the 1,000 mark since the mid-1960s. The number of residents dropped to 958 in the 2006 census, but has been on the upswing since then.

For the full story, please see the Feb. 13 edition of The Davidson Leader or call 306-567-2047 to subscribe today.

Davidson, featured

Rock guitar front and centre on Boychuk CD

Guitarist Sengine Boychuk — shown here in a promotional photo taken in Semans — has released his first CD. (Photo courtesy of Sarah Stockdale Photography)
Guitarist Sengine Boychuk — shown here in a promotional photo taken in Semans — has released his first CD.
(Photo courtesy of Sarah Stockdale Photography)

By Joel van der Veen

DAVIDSON — Years of practice and procrastination went into Sengine Boychuk’s first CD.

As a teenager living in Davidson, Boychuk said, he spent hours alone practising the guitar, building up his repertoire.

“I had nothing better to do,” he said. “For a year and a half I just learned AC/DC songs.”

Boychuk credits his parents with introducing him to the music of their adolescence, the hard rock and heavy metal of the 80s — bands like Motley Crue, Guns N’ Roses, Bon Jovi, Skid Row and Def Leppard.

That influence rings out loud and clear on his new CD, Vol. 1, released on Jan. 18.

The six-track album was mixed, mastered and produced by Boychuk himself. He plays the guitar and bass, while Josh Farden and Colin Phillips join in on the drums.

“I’m an instrumental rock kind of guy, with elements of heavy metal,” Boychuk explained.

The disc includes five original songs, plus a cover of Michael Jackson’s 1982 hit “Beat It.”

“I always loved that song, everything about it,” said Boychuk, explaining that he learned to play the vocal melody on the guitar.

He also recreated the classic Eddie Van Halen guitar solo. He said his goal was to keep the song close to the original, while making it heavier and more modern-sounding.

There were also some headaches working out the royalties and legal issues with Sony, which owns the song.

Even so, he said, it’s probably his favourite track because “it just sounds the best.”

For the full story, please see the Feb. 13 edition of The Davidson Leader or call 306-567-2047 to subscribe today.

Craik, Obituary

Obituary: Reich, Rose

Rose Marie Reich

It is with sadness we announce the passing of Rose Reich at the Craik and District Health Centre on Feb. 7 in her 95th year.

Rose was the third child born to Raymond and Katerine Heck of Holdfast. The family farmed six miles east of Penzance in the Mariposa district where Rose attended school.

In October 1941 she married Frank Reich and they farmed east of Craik. They moved to Craik for the winter months and then moved into Craik permanently in the home Frank built.

Rose was predeceased by her husband Frank, her sisters Margaret and Anne and her brother John.

She is survived by her loving family: Gerald and Bernette, Richard and Laurel, Danny and Theresa, nine grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Rose also leaves behind her brother George and sister Fran as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

A celebration of Rose’s life will take place at a later date. For friends so wishing, memorial donations in memory of Rose may be directed to the Craik and District Memorial Fund or to a charity of choice.

The Reich families wish to thank the Craik Health Centre for the excellent care they gave Rose.

Arrangements in care of Hanson’s Funeral Home of Davidson.

Davidson, featured

Local dance troupe headed to Telemiracle

A group of Davidson dancers will perform on live TV during Telemiracle 41 in March. They are seen here at their audition in November. Pictured clockwise from top left are Jessy Ulmer, Teagin Nelson-Schneider, Brooklyn Bahnman, Alexis Gray, Rhett Gust and Farrah Low.
A group of Davidson dancers will perform on live TV during Telemiracle 41 in March. They are seen here at their audition in November. Pictured clockwise from top left are Jessy Ulmer, Teagin Nelson-Schneider, Brooklyn Bahnman, Alexis Gray, Rhett Gust and Farrah Low.

By Joel van der Veen

DAVIDSON — When an opportunity came knocking, a group of dancers from Davidson was ready to answer.

In this case, the opportunity involves supporting a good cause and having a lot of fun at the same time.

A troupe of six dancers will perform a hip-hop routine on live TV during the Telemiracle 41 telethon in March.

Taking part are Brooklyn Bahnman, Alexis Gray, Rhett Gust, Farrah Low, Teagin Nelson-Schneider and Jessy Ulmer.

They’ll be performing “Knock Knock,” set to the song “Shell Shocked” from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. (The song is credited to Wiz Khalifa, Juicy J and Ty Dolla Sign, featuring Kill the Noise and Madsonik.)

Telemiracle 41 will be broadcast from Saskatoon this year, airing live on CTV stations in Saskatchewan on March 4 and 5.

Proceeds will be used by the Kinsmen Foundation to help people across the province acquire special needs equipment and access medical treatment.

More than $116 million has been raised through the annual telethon since 1977. Last year’s event brought in $5.2 million in donations.

The group developed their routine last year, performing at various recitals and competitions in 2016. They won silver in Lanigan and gold in Warman.

The dancers are in Grade 5 and most of them started studying dance as soon as they were old enough, around age four.

Grade 12 student Tia Shaw, their instructor, said having her group perform in the telethon is a fulfillment of her own longtime dream.

For the full story, please see the Feb. 6 edition of The Davidson Leader or call 306-567-2047 to subscribe today.